Spam is any e-mail you send to someone who hasn’t given you their direct permission to contact them on the topic of the e-mail.

Permission is a fuzzy word open to interpretation. The scenarios below show what does constitute permission.

The type of permission you MUST have.

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[toggle title=”They opted in via your web site”]

This could either be through a newsletter subscribe form or by ticking a check box on another form.

This check box cannot be checked by default and it must clearly explain that checking it will mean you will be contacting them by e-mail.

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[toggle title=”They completed an off-line form”]They’ve completed an offline form and indicated they wanted to be emailed.

If someone completes an off-line form like a survey or enters a competition, you can only contact them if it was explained to them that they would be contacted by e-mail AND they ticked a box indicating they would like to be contacted.[/toggle]
[toggle title=”They gave you their business card”]They gave you their business card and you explained you would be sending them commercial email. If someone gives you their business card and you have explained to them that you will be in touch by e-mail, you can contact them. If they dropped their business card in a fishbowl at a trade show, there must be a sign indicating they will be contacted by e-mail.[/toggle]

[toggle title=”They purchased something off you in the last 2 years”]By making a purchase from you they have provided their permission implicitly.Feel free to e-mail them but at the same time, we think it’s always better to ask anyway, so why not include an opt-in check box as part of the checkout process.[/toggle]
[/toggles]Tickling Trout® will ensure that every e-mail you send includes asingle-clickunsubscribe link that instantly removes the subscriber from your list. Oncetheyunsubscribe, you can never e-mail them again, it will also include the name and physical address of the sender. You must use our ‘Data Upload’ process that specifically asks you certain ‘Anti-Spam’ questions to acknowledge that the data is legitimate.Our software is directly integrated into the spam reporting systems for some of the biggest ISP’s like Hotmail and AOL. If you don’t have permission and someone marks your campaign as spam, we’ll know about it the moment that button is pressed.If you receive a complaint rate greater than 0.25% of all recipients (that’s 25 complaints for every 10,000 recipients) your account will be terminated. This is a generous figure that takes into account false spam reports.

If we do discover that you’re e-mailing people without their permission, we will terminate your account with Tickling Trout® immediately, no refund will be due.

Anti-Spam is common sense. Put yourself in your recipient’s shoes.

If they don’t recognise who you are or aren’t interested in what you’re sending, they’ll think you’re a spammer.